Accumulator
Well-known member
A few people have posted their experiences with the Stage I so I thought I'd present it a little differently. If you're not familiar with either of the approaches mentioned in this thread's title you might have to do a little research to follow this.
Note that when I tried the Stage I on a *very* dirty ("winter-dirty") car, it didn't seem to do much of anything. I had been ready to write it off as snake oil. I usually pre-soak with the foamgun but it doesn't really do all that much either.
This time, the MPV was just the right level of dirty for a comparison between the two approaches- not so dirty that neither would do much, not so clean that neither was worth doing.
The foamgun contained my usual "by-eye" mix of Griot's Car Wash. No idea how strong it was but it sure wasn't weak and it "looked right" to me
Great controls in this experiment, huh 
It's not rocket science; the Griot's shampoo doesn't seem to strip the LSPs I use so I mix it up pretty strong and adjust it as required, judging by how the suds/foam look, by using the mixing valve on the foamgun. I generally err on the side of "too strong".
I did try to be as methodical as realistically possible when comparing the two approaches. I first rinsed the entire vehicle. Using panels that were uniformly soiled, I treated half a panel with the Stage I and the other half with a sudsy spray from the foamgun. I waited, and then rinsed and inspected.
The Stage I *did* pre-clean a little better than the foamgun mix. You could see the difference, but it wasn't a *huge* difference. Neither approach is miraculous. Still, whatever I can do to prevent wash-induced marring is worth doing in my book.
Repeating the process did not have any appreciable effect.
What *did* seem to make a difference was combining the two methods. I tried using each one first, followed by the other, and I *think* the best way is to use the foamgun first, let it soak for a little bit (long enough for the excess to run off) and then spray again using the Stage I. Using both pre-treatments was an improvement over only using one or the other.
Whether using *either* is worth the time, expense, and hassle will be a personal decision. I can't say if either really helps prevent marring as I'm using my non-marring wash technique anyway. But IMO it adds an additional margin of safety.
But again, if you're looking for a dramatic pre-treatment effect, you won't find it in either form of pre-treatment.
Note that when I tried the Stage I on a *very* dirty ("winter-dirty") car, it didn't seem to do much of anything. I had been ready to write it off as snake oil. I usually pre-soak with the foamgun but it doesn't really do all that much either.
This time, the MPV was just the right level of dirty for a comparison between the two approaches- not so dirty that neither would do much, not so clean that neither was worth doing.
The foamgun contained my usual "by-eye" mix of Griot's Car Wash. No idea how strong it was but it sure wasn't weak and it "looked right" to me
Great controls in this experiment, huh It's not rocket science; the Griot's shampoo doesn't seem to strip the LSPs I use so I mix it up pretty strong and adjust it as required, judging by how the suds/foam look, by using the mixing valve on the foamgun. I generally err on the side of "too strong".I did try to be as methodical as realistically possible when comparing the two approaches. I first rinsed the entire vehicle. Using panels that were uniformly soiled, I treated half a panel with the Stage I and the other half with a sudsy spray from the foamgun. I waited, and then rinsed and inspected.
The Stage I *did* pre-clean a little better than the foamgun mix. You could see the difference, but it wasn't a *huge* difference. Neither approach is miraculous. Still, whatever I can do to prevent wash-induced marring is worth doing in my book.
Repeating the process did not have any appreciable effect.
What *did* seem to make a difference was combining the two methods. I tried using each one first, followed by the other, and I *think* the best way is to use the foamgun first, let it soak for a little bit (long enough for the excess to run off) and then spray again using the Stage I. Using both pre-treatments was an improvement over only using one or the other.
Whether using *either* is worth the time, expense, and hassle will be a personal decision. I can't say if either really helps prevent marring as I'm using my non-marring wash technique anyway. But IMO it adds an additional margin of safety.
But again, if you're looking for a dramatic pre-treatment effect, you won't find it in either form of pre-treatment.
